Understand

While Vologda is becoming increasingly popular among Russian local tourists, it is still remaining undeservedly undiscovered by international visitors.

During the Orthodox Christmas and the New Year holidays Vologda acts as the major transit point for crowds going to Veliky Ustyug, Russian Ded Moroz (Farther Frost) residence.

History

Vologda was firstmentioned under year 1147. It was major transit city before St.Petersburg was founded (1703). 1565-1571 Ivan the Terrible proposed Vologda as the new capital of his domain (instead of Moscow).

Get in

By plane

VGD airport provides no regular flights. Airport is situated 8 km north from city centre, easily reachable by bus or taxi.
Nearest international airport is Cherepovets (CEE) (see http://wikitravel.org/en/Cherepovets for details)

By train

Train is still most convenient approach to get to Vologda. Vologda stands on intersection of railways Moscow-Arkhangelsk and St.Petersburg-Ekaterinburg. You can get from St.Peterburg Ladozhsky station for 12 hours, 3 trains both day and night or from Moscow Yaroslavsky station for 8-9 hours, 6 trains a day (see pass.rzd.ru for details).

By car

Vologda is 470 km to the north by the M8 road from Moscow. It takes 5-7 hours drive to reach the city depending on traffic. Road conditions are generally good for Russia, excluding the total mess with street navigation when passing Yaroslavl. So, using GPS navigator is recommended.

By bus

There are some direct bus lines from Moscow airports to Vologda. They are rather cheap, but it is difficult for international passengers to use this option (see, for example, http://kucher35.ru/service.php).

By boat

Get around

A victory parade near the kremlin of Vologda

Public transportation in Vologda is rather good. There are buses and trolleybuses. You can buy ticket (16 RUB) at the conductor or driver. You can save on several routes with 15- or 30-ride smart-cards (15 or 14 RUB for ride respectively). Smart-cards are valid on all trolleybuses and buses with red-square "Zabota" sign.